6/21/2009

A week has passed since the so called Iranian Presidential election and President Obama has once again showed weakness to radical Muslims. As opposed to making public announcements in support of the those protesting the Iranian regime, Mr. Obama has chosen to basically remain silent. He gives some ridiculous excuse to the effect that he does not want to give the mullahs the excuse to say that the United States in meddling in Iran’s internal affairs. The President then issues a written statement saying that he is modestly encouraged by the Iranian spiritual council’s supposed investigation into the allegations of election fraud. The written statement goes on to say, “You’ve seen in Iran, some initial reaction from the Supreme Leader that indicates he understand the Iranian people have deep concerns about the election.”

Then, on Friday, during Friday prayers, the Iranian “Supreme Leader”, Ali Khamenei, thanks the President of the United States for not meddling in Iranian internal affairs by issuing a warning to the protesters to stop immediately or they will feel the full weight of the police state pressing down upon them. Khamenei also blames the United States and the United Kingdom for causing the protests (really, he blamed the US and the UK for meddling in Iranian internal affairs). Khamenei also got in a few shots at the “dirty Zionists”. I wonder if that is the US or the UK, but it is probably both.

The notion that the President of the United States would even refer to a third world dictator such as Ali Khamenei as “Supreme Leader” is a sign of weakness in and of itself. Instead of attempting to help the citizens of a totalitarian dictatorship overthrow their overlords, President Obama sticks to diplomatic niceties and coddles the man who is the single biggest sponsor of worldwide Islamic terrorism. Evidently, this is part of Mr. Obama’s mutual respect for the Muslim world (never mind the thousands of Americans who have died in the past twenty years attempting to free Muslims from other dictators such as Ali Khamenei).

The United States and our allies have been afforded a chance. The fall of the Islamic republic in Iran may also bring about an end to the Iranian nuclear program. The fact the President Obama has done virtually nothing to assist an indigenous rebellion in Iran is both astounding and perplexing. Through no use of our military, the President could be taking aggressive action to bring down a regime that possesses what is potentially the single greatest threat to our national security and the security of our allies. Mr. Obama should make it clear that the United States stands with the Iranian protesters, much like President Reagan did for the members of Solidarity in Poland in the 1980s. Instead, we get double speak about not meddling and politically correct references to third world tyrants.

The Iranian regime may be on the verge of losing credibility with its own people. There are reports of Iranian security forces refusing to engage their fellow citizens. Plus, the pictures of the secret police clubbing peaceful protests generally does not play will in the world wide media. However, the longer Mr. Obama remains silent, the greater the chance that the current regime will be able to re-establish its credibility with other nations. Mr. Obama should also be using the videos and reports from the streets of Tehran to convince our European allies to impose stricter sanctions. The French and the German’s should be reminded by these videos exactly what the current Iranian theocracy is about.

We may very well be at a major turning point in human history. If this regime that has caused so many problems in the world does fall, the underwriting of worldwide Islamic terrorism may be significantly reduced and nuclear proliferation to a rouge regime may be avoided. President Obama must seize the moment and take strong and decisive action. Unfortunately, so far, he seems content to let actions unfold without him. This is hardly the sign of a strong leader. I guess the change that we can believe in will come from those risking their lives on the streets of Tehran.